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Zendaya
Zendaya Maree Stoermer Coleman (born September 1st, 1994), known simply by the mononym Zendaya, is an American actress, singer, and dancer. Zendaya plays Zoey Stevens in the DCOM Zapped. Early Life Born on September 1, 1994 in Oakland, California to Kazembe Ajamu Coleman and Claire Stoermer, Zendaya grew up as a part of the California Shakespeare Theater in Orinda where her mother works as the house manager in addition to training at the theater's student conservatory program. Zendaya has performed in numerous stage productions. Zendaya also helped her mother seat patrons and sell raffle tickets to benefit the theater. While she was attending Oakland School for the Arts she starred as Little Ti Moune in Once On This Island at the Berkeley Playhouse and the breakout role of the male character Joe in Caroline, or Change at Palo Alto's TheaterWorks. She studied her craft at the CalShakes Conservatory Program and at the American Conservatory Theater. Her other stage credits include Richard III, Twelfth Night, and As You Like It. Zendaya's Official Site states that her name derives from a word meaning "to give thanks" in Shona (a Bantu language native to the Shona people of Zimbabwe). She also spent three years dancing with her former dance group called Future Shock Oakland where they danced Hip Hop and Hula. Career 2009–2013 Zendaya began her professional career working as a fashion model for Macy's, Mervyns, and Old Navy. She was featured in an iCarly toys ad along with Stefanie Scott. She also appeared as a back-up dancer in a Sears commercial featuring Disney Channel star Selena Gomez. In 2009, she was a featured performer in the Kidz Bop music video for its cover of the song "Hot 'n' Cold" by Katy Perry, which was released on Kidz Bop 15. She auditioned in November 2009 for the role of CeCe Jones to join the cast of Dance Dance Chicago (later changed to Shake It Up!). For her audition she performed Michael Jackson's "Leave Me Alone." In 2011 Zendaya released "Swag It Out," a promotional independent single. The song was composed by Bobby Brackins and produced by Glenn A. Foster. She also starred in the book trailer for "From Bad To Cursed" by Katie Alender. In the same year, she released "Watch Me," featuring Bella Thorne, on June 21. The song peaked at #63 on the Billboard Hot Digital songs, at #86 on the Billboard Hot 100 and at #9 on USA Top Heatseekers. The second season of Shake It Up was announced on March 16, 2011 and premiered on September 18, 2011. On June 5, 2011, Shake It Up had a crossover episode with Good Luck Charlie called Charlie Shakes It Up. Zendaya hosted Make Your Mark: Ultimate Dance Off 2011. Her first movie role was in the 2012 film, Frenemies, a DCOM. On February 29, 2012, "Something to Dance For" was released as promotional single for Live 2 Dance. For the soundtrack Zendaya also recorded three other songs: "Made In Japan," "Same Heart," and "Fashion Is My Kryptonite," released as promotional single. In September 2, 2012 she signed to Hollywood Records. On October Zendaya performed at the Teen Music Festival and at the Operation Smile benefit. 2013–present In March 2013, Zendaya was nominated and is a contestant in season sixteen of Dancing With the Stars. She beat out Shawn Johnson, as the youngest contestant to ever be on the show. She had her first dance with Val Chmerkovskiy on March 18, 2013 to Contemporary, and got a score of 24. She scored a 26 on March 25, 2013 with the Jive, totaling her score to 50, the highest, keeping Val and her safe from elimination on March 26, 2013. She also scored a perfect score in the May 20, 2013 episode in every dance but finished in second place in the results show the following night. Her debut album titled Zendaya was released on September 17, 2013. It will be preceded by the single "Replay," released on July 16, 2013. The song was written by Tiffany Fred and Paul "Phamous" Shelton. In June 2013, Coleman wrapped up filming for the music video. On July 25, the Disney Channel confirmed that Shake It Up will be canceled after the end of the third season. Personal Life Zendaya spent three years of dancing in a dance group called Future Shock Oakland. The group did hip hop and hula dances when she was eight. Zendaya currently lives in Los Angeles with her family and dog, a Giant Schnauzer named Midnight. Her interests include singing, dancing, and designing clothes. Gallery Filmography Film Television Other Trivia *Zendaya's name means "to give thanks" in the language of Shone, which is an African language. It is originally "Chendaya," but her dad was really a fan of Z's at the time. Also, all of Zendaya's brothers and sisters have Zs in their names. So he added that, plus the whole "Zen" factor, said Zendaya.[1] *She was born in Oakland, California. *She owns a black giant schnauzer dog named Midnight. *Her favorite color is pink. *Zendaya's favorite TV show is "Law and Order: Special Victims Unit." *Her favorite dessert is coffee ice cream. *Michael Jackson is her favorite singer. *She is a very big fan of Aaliyah and is currently working on a movie about her. *Her dream vacation spot would be Florence, Italy. *Both of Zendaya's parents are teachers, she has also said that if she was not an actress, she would probably end up being a teacher like them.[2] *Zendaya was in a book trailer for Katie Alender's novel "From Bad to Cursed." *Her motto is "Don't forget to smile!" *She has admitted that the cartoon character she is most like is Kim Possible. *She has her own debut album, along with her single called "Replay," the same title as the album's name. *She wrote a book about herself called "Between U and Me." *She has been on the cover of the Seventeen magazine. *She has been on the cover of the Material Girl magazine. *Her best friend is Bella Thorne. *This is her second Disney Channel Original Movie the first was Frenemies. *In May 2014, it was reported Zendaya had been cast as the lead in a new Disney Channel Original Series K.C. Undercover and will begin production in the summer for an early 2015 release. *She has been on Dancing With The Stars. *She has a "This Is Who I Am" video for Disney Channel. External Links *Official Website *Zendaya on Twitter *Zendaya on Facebook *Zendaya at the Internet Movie Database Category:Females Category:Cast